LAC LA BICHE - Each year, one young person in the Lac La Biche region is selected to be the Junior Citizen of the Year in recognition of their volunteer efforts and helping others in the community. Who will it be this year?
Nominations are being accepted until Nov. 25 at midnight for candidates for the 2024 Junior Citizen of the Year. The award is held in conjunction with the annual Light Up the Night event, which includes the Santa Parade and tree lighting.
Heather Stromquist, Lac La Biche County’s manager of economic development and tourism, says the region has many deserving young people who volunteer and go the extra mile to make a difference.
“The Lac La Biche Region is full of so many amazing young people,” Stromquist told Lakeland This Week. “We would like to recognize every youth who makes a difference, and it can be difficult selecting just one. Selecting one Junior Citizen of the Year has been well received by the community and a highlight of the Light Up the Night event.”
An organizing committee for the Light Up the Night Event oversees the selection process for choosing the Junior Citizen of the Year.
Those who would like to nominate a youth in the community, Stromquist continued, can complete the online information form with the information requested. The committee, she explained, encourages nominators to obtain letters of support and provide as much information as possible about nominees so that members can decide who will be the Junior Citizen of the Year.
Process
“Additional letters of support can be so important when we have more than one strong, deserving nominee, to assist the committee in making the best decision,” she said, going on to explain the committee reviews each nomination thoroughly, short-lists the candidates, reviews supporting letters and through consensus, determines who the Junior Citizen of the Year will be.
In previous years, Stromquist continued, Junior Citizens have typically been high school students. However, she added, this is not a criterion for the nomination, and deserving candidates from the age of three to 18 can be recommended.
Lyric Jesso, a member of the JA Williams (JAWS) graduation class of 2023, and a devoted volunteer who is also a cadet with Lac La Biche County Fire Rescue Services, was Lac La Biche County’s 2023 Junior Citizen of the Year.
Parade seat
Jesso participated in last year’s Santa Parade, riding down Main Street) with Jolly Old Saint Nick himself and lighting the massive Christmas tree located next to the Northern Lights Public Schools building. This year’s Santa Parade is set to take place on Friday, Dec. 6 at 6:30 p.m.
“Each year, the Junior Citizen of the Year rides with Santa Claus in the parade and lights up the tree, just like they light up our community all year,” Stromquist said. “We do see previous Junior Citizens of the Year attend the event, but it certainly makes us happy to see them all throughout the year, continuing to be involved in the community,” she said.
The deadline for nominations is midnight on Nov. 25. The online nomination form can be found here while supporting letters can be emailed to lightupllbc@gmail.com.